Black Hawk Down: A Story of Modern War

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Summary: A story I really didn't know before (and wish I had)
Review: This is the non-fiction account of the battle in Somalia in 1993 that left 12 soldiers dead as told from the perspective of those who were there. I learned much about the conflict, e.g. I hadn't known that Delta Force was one of the primary forces involved. But I did see how political factors weighed against the soldiers in doing their duty, just as they did in Vietnam. It's also an excellent account of what the future of modern warfare will look like, with small units of soldiers fighting in urban environments against foes that are hard to distinguish from innocents. While painful to read, because we know the outcome, it was instructive and sobering. I saw the gung-ho, bloodthirsty attitude of the Rangers change to fear then determination and finally just a will to survive and to save their comrades. This is the face of courage and bravery. I recommend it and look forward to the movie.

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Summary: Excellent
Review: Blackhawk Down is excellent from multiple perspectives. It is not heroic prose, it is not anti military and it does not attempt to lay blame as most news accounts did. It is a fact based review of the most documented, video and audio, operation in our history - at least that we know of. It shows how multiple forces on the same mission with different goals and different command structures fell apart due to situation beyond their immediate control. It also shows how the least likey folks often step forward to do the most heroic things while the chest thumpers fall apart. It is a must read for anyone interested in military history, anyone in the service or anyone that cares what our troops are being asked to do every day of the year.

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Summary: Gripping and realistic combat story
Review: The tragic firefight which involved about one hundred U.S. soldiers and thousands of Somalias could have been a lost footnote in the annals of American warfare. However with the willingness of the men involved in this battle to speak about it and with Mark Bowden's impressive ability to make this story come to life on the page, we are given a story that all should read. The lives of these soldiers seems in many ways, foreign to those of us who have never served in the military, but they provide a glimpse of just why the United States military is often heralded as the bar by which all others are measured. One who hasn't read the book would wonder why these specially trained soldiers were not able to make it out of this city unharmed, but it is this fact which propels the story forward. As the first black hawk helicopter goes down, they realize that no matter the cost to themselves, they are going to save the pilots on board. This is the first chance we get to see the dedication that these men have to each other as well as to the history of their specific units and to the overall military as well. Luckily we get more chances to see this dedications throughout the novel, particularily in the actions of Delta snipers Randy Shughart and Gary Gordon. It is through the actions of men like these that make one proud to be an American.

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Summary: Audio Book Terrific
Review: If you have cause to listen to this book in its audio format, you will not be disappointed. The presentation, which starts a bit gung ho, will keep you entranced for the duration. I sat in the garage listening, long after the engine had gone cold. This story never does.

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Summary: Great book
Review: This book was great! The story came across so real that I started feeling emotions for the soldiers involved. Mark Bowden does justice to all soldiers that serve in conflicts that are typically forgotten due to not being a "war".

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Summary: Gripping
Review: Bowden's account of the October 1993 Battle of Mogadishu in which eighteen American soldiers were slain is a gripping blow-by-blow account of this horrific fifteen-hour battle. He has interviewed dozens of Army Rangers, Delta force operators, pilots, and Somalis, combed through the archives and pieced together the battle in a running minute-by-minute chronology that puts the reader in harm's way. This is a tough book to put down. The soldiers are put into context, their lives, their training, their camaraderie, but are yanked out of any political picture. They are soldiers, doing their jobs and trying to stay alive and complete a mission. Aside from a brief epilogue, "Black Hawk Down" does not seek to characterize the broader mission in Somalia from start to finish nor frame the reason for these troops' presence in Mogadishu, nor engage in any real post-mortem. This is the story of a brief and now nearly-forgotten battle. It is gory and heart-wrenching and full of chaos and noise. It is a powerful book. Not a political analysis but a true story of war.

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Summary: Chilling glimpse at a forgotten battle
Review: This book was very well researched and well written. I especially liked how the author chose to explain the battle through the eyes of those who participated in it, not only from the American side but the Somali side as well. It gave the battle a very balanced picture that neither endorses the American side nor criticizes it, but rather explains the facts as seen through the participants of both sides and gives the reader the chance to reach his own conclusions. It is like journalistic writing should be; objective in its treatment of the subject and yet flowing enough to read like a good war novel.

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Summary: Compelling but horrific
Review: Written in breathless prose, this exciting book was a page-turner from the very start. However, I can only give it 4 stars (bordering on 3.5) because some passages were just too grisly for me. I've read books about Iwo Jima that weren't as gruesome! While no one, including me, wants American soldiers doing their duty abroad in Third World Thunderdomes to be killed by ragged natives, you'd also have to be some kind of sociopath not to feel pity for so many of the Somalis (addled old men, women, young kids) who were blown to smithereens in this desperate firefight. They were, after all, to their way of thinking, defending their neighborhood against men decked out like the Imperial Storm Troopers from Star Wars. Also, I think Bowden just enjoyed writing all that gory stuff a...little...too...much...

Rating:
Summary: Well-Researched
Review: Black Hawk Down is a captivating book thanks to Mark Bowden's direct and colorful writing, but most importantly because the story is so amazing. It is the story of the US soldiers killed by ambush on the streets of Mogadishu, Somalia, as they were executing a dangerous mission to capture several Somali warlords. The bravery, courage, and loyalty these soldiers demonstrate in this book in giving their lives up for their fellow soldiers is beyond admirable. But the best part of the book is how Bowden stretches a story that lasted less than a day into a few hundred pages by recounting the street shootout from several different perspectives, including those of a couple Somalis. A normal reader will not be able to set this one down until being finished with it, and I believe most fair American citizens will gain a great respect for these US military men who gave their lives fighting to restore peace in a foreign land gone mad. Mark Bowden was fair in this book not to point fingers, since he was just telling the story, but there are questions that Bill Clinton and Les Aspin (who was forced to resign because of this incident) should have to answer in relation to this massacre that they most likely never will.

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Summary: The "Real" Story of today's soldiers
Review: Excellent book. In my opinion the best written book on modern warfare on the shelf today. Mark Bowden has an uncanny way of putting you right in the shoes of the individual soldiers in combat. You feel the frustration, you feel the anger and you feel the pain in each page. It shows you that soldiers aren't machines, they are the people right next door, fighting battles daily across the world to keep it free from tyrannical dictators. Once you pick this book up, it's hard to put it down.